Robin Hood and Maid Marian [Child 150]

DESCRIPTION: Robin, while Earl of Huntingdon, woos Maid Marian. Then, outlawed, he keeps to the wood, disguised. She dresses as a page to seek him. They meet and fight, unrecognized, till both are wounded. He calls a halt, she knows his voice, they celebrate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1795 (Ritson)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood love courting fight disguise
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Child 150, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
Bronson 150, comments only
Ritson-RobinHood, pp. 214-217, "Robin Hood Rescuing Maid Marian" (1 text)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 423-425, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
Olson-BroadsideBalladIndex, RZN3, "A bonny fine maid of noble degree"
ADDITIONAL: R. B. Dobson and J. Taylor, _Rymes of Robyn Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw_, University of Pittsburg Press, 1976, pp. 177-178, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 493-498, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text,based on the Onley broadside)
Roud #3992
NOTES [1867 words]: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
It is noteworthy that Marian is not an original part of the Robin Hood legend; other than in this late and feeble piece -- which notably is preserved in only a single broadside; it was not found in the garlands -- she is mentioned only twice in all the ballads printed by Child (#145A, stanza 9, and #147, stanza 1). In neither case is she described as Robin's wife or beloved; she could be one of his men's wives, or a member of his band.
I observe that, in the tales of Robin's demise in the "Gest" and in "Robin Hood's Death" [Child 120], Robin does not mention a wife or children when he dies -- even though he states that he never hurt a woman. Would he not commend his wife to John's care if he had one? Obviously she is a late addition to the tale. Where she came from must remain a matter of speculation.
It is widely believed that, in the May Games, Marian was initially the consort of the jolly, worldly, distinctly unchaste Friar Tuck (so, e.g., Child), and that she came to be Robin's prize based on their names.
Holt (p. 160) believes that the story of Robin and Marian derives from Adam de la Halle's thirteenth century play "Robin et Marion." (called "Le Gieus de Robin et de Marion" on p. 189 of Moore.) In this romance, Marian is a shepherdess whose fidelity to Robin causes her to fend off a lusty knight. Many authors agree with some version of the idea that Robyn and Makyne is based on a French pastourelle such as the "Robin and Marion." Moore, pp. 188-190, summarizes opinions on this subject but himself thinks the evidence thin.
This legend entered the French May Games, and was used by John Gower. At some point Marian became Queen of the May Games. With Robin also a character in the games, their union was almost inevitable.
In fact, things may not be that complex. Mustanoja notes that Robin and Marion are typical names for rustic lovers in French and English romance. If Robin were to find a lover, the name Marion (Marian) was almost to be expected.
This pairing is also found in Scotland, although in slightly different form. Speaking of Robert Henryson (fl. 1462), Garnett/Gosse, pp. 295-196, write, "Perhaps the most important of Henryson's performances is the lyrical pastoral of Robin and Makyne, not so much for its own merit, though this is great, than as the first revelation of the vast material for popular poetry in Scotch rural life. It is the old story of cross purposes. Makyne loves Robin, Robin is indifferent. Makyne becomes desperate, lays open siege to him; Robin repels her. Makyne renounces him; Robin, piqued into love, strives to regain her, but only to discover that
"The man that will nocht whan he may,
Sall have nocht quhen he wald."
Those wishing to see Henryson's poem may find it in volume II of Percy's Reliques. It looks rather affected to me (Henryson was one of many Chaucer imitators in this period, though much better than most), although some of this may be the result of it being taken from a printed version rather than from manuscript -- plus Percy himself was good at making things look affected.
Henryson's tale was told after the origin of the Robin Hood legend, but before the linking of Robin and Marian; it serves as another illustration of the standard link between Robin and Ma(whatever).
Olson's Broadside Index notes that this piece is "Smithson's parody of Robin Hood ballads," and Child observes that the broadside is signed S.S.
The strongest link between Maid Marian and Robin comes from the plays of Anthony Munday, described in the notes to the "Gest." It was he who linked Marian with Matilda FitzWalter (Holt, p. 162), whose alleged father Robert FitzWalter was a real opponent of King John (Tyerman, pp. 307, 313) but of whom no such stories are told in genuine history.
The absurd lateness of this particular song is shown by the mention in verse 3 that "neither Rosamond nor Jane Shore" could surpass Marian in beauty. It would not be unreasonable to find a mention of Rosamund (Clifford) in a Robin Hood ballad; she was the mistress of King Henry II, the father of Richard the Lion-Hearted and the great-great-grandfather of Edward II (Kings widely associated with the Robin Hood legend).
The mention of Jane Shore, though, is astonishingly anachronistic. Elizabeth Lambert, known as Jane Shore (for her story, see the song "Jane Shore") was the mistress of King Edward IV (died 1483) and was probably born in the 1450s. Sir Thomas More, who tells us most of what we know about her, had actually met her in old age in the sixteenth century (Cheetham, p. 205). She thus was active fully a century after our first known mention of Robin Hood as a legendary figure. A song which mentions her could hardly come from before 1475.
What's more, it could be a lot later. In an age before photography, when portraits had to be painted and copied by hand, the assumption was that the most beautiful women were kings' mistresses. But, after the reign of Edward IV, there were few noteworthy royal mistresses. Edward IV's son Edward V was pre-pubescent when he was deposed (Ashley, p. 620). Richard III, who came next, lasted only two years and didn't have time for mistresses (and seems to have been puritanical anyway; Cheetham, pp. 204-205. His only illegitimate children were born long before he became king, and before he was married -- and we have no knowledge of the mother's name). That strange, strange man, Henry VII, seems to have been very sexually unadventurous (Ashley, p. 624).
Henry VIII of course had mistresses, such as Bessie Blunt the mother of the Duke of Richmond, but they were forgotten in the tale of his many wives. Edward VI was a boy, too young for such things (Ashley, p. 636). Mary I and Elizabeth I were female; they obviously had no mistresses. James VI and I seems to have been homosexual; he had no known mistresses (Ashley, pp. 575-576). Charles I was another with a quiet home life (Ashley, p. 650). Thus the next king after Edward IV to have a noteworthy mistress was Charles II (ascended 1660), who had quite a collection, including Nell Gwin. So, since there were no noteworthy beauties for almost two centuries after Jane Shore, this rather feeble item could be very late indeed and still be forced to mention Jane and Rosamund as famous women.
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Knight/Ohlgren, p. 493, do make the interesting point that there is perhaps a feminist undercurrent here -- almost the only such in the Robin Hood corpus.
For those wishing to see how little Munday's play about Robin has to do with the actual Robin Hood legend, without wanting to waste money on a text of the horrid thing, I've taken the cast of characters from pp. xiii-xiv of Munday and annotated them based on whether they have a role in the "Gest":
CHARACTERS OF THE INDUCTION (none of whom occur in the early Robin Hood ballads)
Sir John Eltham
Skelton
Little Tracy
Clown
Characters of the dumbshow
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY ITSELF (supposedly in order of appearance, although this does not appear correct to me)
* Gilbert de Hood, Prior of York and uncle to Robert, Earl of Huntingdon [Gilbert of the White Hand appears briefly in the "Gest," but he is not called "Hood" or said to be a relative of Robin]
* The Sheriff. [There is a Sheriff in the "Gest" and many other ballads]
* Justice Warman, Steward to Robert, Earl of Huntingdon; later Sheriff of Nottingham [No such person in the "Gest," and Robin was a yeoman and would not have had a steward]
* Robert Hood, Earl of Huntingdon
* Little John, his servant [Little John is the first person mentioned in the "Gest" other than Robin, but he too is a yeoman and not Robin's servant]
* Marian, his betrothed (after [line] 781, Matilda, daughter of Lord Fitzwater) [Not in the "Gest"]
* Eleanor, the Queen Mother [not in the "Gest." This is presumably Eleanor of Aquitaine -- who, by the way, wouldn't have spoken English]
* Lord Sentloe, conspirator against the Earl of Huntingdon [not in the "Gest"]
* Sir Hugh Lacy, conspirator against the Earl of Huntingdon [not in the "Gest"]
* Sir Gilbert Broughton, conspirator against the Earl of Huntingdon [not in the "Gest"]
* Mistress Warman [not in the "Gest," although the Sheriff's Wife plays a substantial role in "Robin Hood and the Potter"]
* Prince John [not in the "Gest," and by the way, John the Brother of Richard was not a Prince; there were no principalities in the Angevin Empire]
* the Bishop of Ely [not in the "Gest"; such clergy as we see are mostly from Yorkshire]
* Much, the Miller's son, a clown [in the Gest, but no clown]
* a messenger from Ely
* Simon, Earl of Leicester (after 781, Lord Salisbury) [Not in the "Gest" under either name)
* Lord Lacy, brother of Sir Hugh and father of Marian (after [line] 781, Lord Fitzwater) [Not in the "Gest" under either name)
* Lord Chester [Not in the "Gest"]
* Friar Tuck [Not in the "Gest," the "Monk," the "Potter," or the "Death," although he seems to have been the earliest member of Robin's band other than Little John, Much, Scarlock/Scathelock, and Gilbert]
* Ralph, Warman's Man [No "Ralph" in the "Gest"]
* Scarlet [see below]
* Scathelock [Scarlet and Scathelock are listed as brothers, but in the "Gest," there is *one* character, Scarlock or Scathelock, who eventually evolved in the late ballads into "Scarlet"; Munday has turned one character into two]
* First Collier [not many colliers in the time of Richard I, Mr. Munday.]
* Second Collier [see previous comment]
* Widow Scarlet, mother of Scarlet and Scathelock [no one in the "Gest" has noticeable parents, and one wonders why she's called Scarlet when only one of her sons bears that name!]
* Sir Doncaster of Hothersfield [Sir Roger of Doncaster was involved in Robin's murder, but his name was Roger, not Doncaster, and he came from Doncaster, not Hothersfield, and he appears with the Prioress of Kirklees, whom Munday omits]
* Jinny, daughter of the Widow Scarlet [no sisters in the "Gest," either]
* a servant of the Prior
* another servant, messenger from York
* a Herald
* Earl of Leicester [we already had one of these, until he turned into Lord Salisbury!]
* Richmond [no Earl of Richmond in the "Gest"]
* Warman's Cousin
* Jailer of Nottingham
* Mistress Thompson [not in the "Gest"]
* King Richard [in the "Gest," the king is explicitly named "Edward"]
* Sheriff's men, Sir Doncaster's ruffians [in the "Gest," Sir Roger doesn't have any ruffians except the Prioress of Kirklees, with whom he is sleeping], Leicester's drum and ancient, soldiers, officers, attendants, Jailer's dog.
Summary: Munday presumably dreamed up his play based on some older elements, but very few of those older elements had anything to do with Robin Hood. And neither did Maid Marian, until Munday came along. - RBW
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File: C150

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